"Maverick" John Seeks to Make A Comeback

Though he claims not to be bothered by the double digit polling deficits he currently has against Rudy Giuliani, John McCain is hitting the road and thinks that resurrecting his "maverick" image will help:

"In the seven years since John McCain and his 'Straight Talk Express' nearly derailed George W. Bush's White House ambitions, the blunt-spoken senator from Arizona has become the very picture of the highly managed presidential candidate he once scorned," writes the Washington Post.

"As McCain departs today on a five-day jaunt across Iowa and New Hampshire in his campaign bus (actually four buses, two in each state), he is hoping to regain the front-runner status that has slipped away from him and rekindle the insurgent spirit of his first presidential bid."

"Appearing the insurgent will be no small task for McCain, given that he has aggressively courted the GOP establishment this time. His burgeoning campaign staff is filled with former Bush aides. He has lured more than 50 Rangers and Pioneers, the president's most generous donors. And the 70-year-old senator has become one of the most outspoken proponents of Bush's plan to send additional troops to Iraq."

The problem with this strategy is that McCain's "maverick" past is part of the reason he's currently suffering in the polls. He seemed all too interested in bucking his own party and playing to the adoring media on the "Straight Talk Express". During his "maverick days he also took on religious conservatives, an important constituency in the GOP. Trying to remake himself...again... at this point is likely to fail.